Johnny yawned as he finally sat down in the outdoor cafe. He and Taylor had woken up and gotten on an early train to their soon to be new home town of Hamamtsu. Johnny knew where it was but he never really had been there outside of the general area of the train station. It was another reason that Johnny wanted to move there. It was a place that new to both of them. It could be their place. {i]Their[/i] town and their home. Taylor was still having trouble pronouncing the name and that alone had maybe been worth the trip. They had stayed up late last night looking through some books they had ordered and fishing around on web sites. Making last minute appointments and checking to see if there were any places they could take a quick peek at while they were out.

Things had gone well. Hamamtsu was still a big town. Although it wasn't as big as Tokyo but was almost as big as Kyoto. It was still a city but wasn't a crushing urban sprawl. There was even a lot of nature in Hamamtsu. Kita-ku, where they were now, had a lot of forest and was very natural. it was also where the suburbanites were and even sat on the brackish Lake Hamana. But running around an unfamiliar city, even with the wonder of planning out a new future with his lovely wife was even more tiring than a match. Johnny was ready to relax for a bit and pass some time at a cafe. Have a nice drink and then maybe meander for a little while longer before going back to the hotel room they decided to rent for the night.

Johnny smiled at Taylor as the server set down some drinks for them. It felt more like a vacation than anything. He really didn't have much more to say aside form. "Awesome." Johnny sighed pleasantly and sipped on his drink. "What about you, babe? We could have any place here, really. It's cool." He said and leaned back. He felt a buzzing in his pocket and pulled out his phone. he checked it and frowned. Ro was texting him. He shut it quickly without even reading the text. She was probably bored and looking for a fight. He wasn't anywhere near her and he was out. They could hang later. He'd make it up to her by punching her int he face. Johnny smiled at the thought and looked back up at Taylor, waiting for her reply.

Taylor sat, ruddy-cheeked and glowing in the seat across from Johnny. She shucked off her coat and hung it behind her on the seat, brushed her bangs back behind an ear and smiled at Johnny.

"Awesome." There was really only one thing to it. It was a fresh start, for both of them. Avalanche would have wrapped up before they could think about moving anywhere, and out on the lake or on the ocean, away from the bustle of Tokyo and the violence and chaos of AFW would be a haven for both of them.

And for Cassie. She found herself thinking as much of the little redhead as she did of herself and Johnny while they roamed the city. She would buy a house just to bring back the old Cassie's smile, and she had the money to do it. She felt like she was nesting, but without any kids.

She glanced down at Johnny's phone, but didn't mention it. "We're pretty hot shit, ya know?" She remarked. "We're a coupla punk kids who've never had real jobs, and here we are. We can go wherever we want, live wherever we want. We can do whatever we want. I feel like... we're actually in control of our lives for once. I like it." She reached across the table for Johnny's hand. "I think the only really important decision was who to spend the rest of my life with, and now everything else is just like, whatever. We can do whatever we want."

She leaned back and glanced around the place. She sipped her jasmine green tea. She breathed deeply and sighed contentedly.

Ro was nowhere near such a peaceful place. She was bored. Sitting in her kitchen, she was all dressed up but had nowhere to go. She looked very much like a girl who had been stood up.

Her boyfriend, Ronan, was in a match or something. Ro knew this in advance, and didnâ€™t have tickets, so she had planned to spend the night with Amanda, but she had stood her up. Apparently she had found some guy and was doingâ€¦well, whatever it is Amanda did. Probably something sexual.

Roâ€™s first thought, then, was to call John. The phone rang a bit, before John finally picked up.

And, of course, Ro heard gun shots. â€œIâ€™m at work, Ro, you kn## ####.â€ Whatever John had said at the end of that sentence, it was cut off by the sounds of gunfire. While it was very hard to own a firearm for home use in Japan, marksmanship was a valid sport in Japan. John worked as a rangemaster outside of AFW.

â€œI thought you said you were quitting, Tension was keeping you to busy.â€ Ro said. John then shouted into the phoneâ€¦not in anger, but because it was loud.

â€œI said I was thinking about #######. # #### ##cide until I win the belt. I gotta go, dammit!â€ John hung up on Ro.

That still left Ro bored, dressed, and ready to go out. â€œAlone?â€ she mumbled to herself. It seamed like everyone had something to do, and she was just sitting around. Then, the idea to txt Johnny came to her.

â€œbored. save me. wana do something?â€

Ro waited about a few moments, then when Johnny didnâ€™t reply, she txted him again.

Johnny just grinned when Taylor spoke. He took her hand and squeezed it gently. What she said was basically how he felt as well. Everything was totally cool and Johnny liked being cool. When she was finished, he only had one thing to add. "That wasn't even a choice for me babe." He said. "Or, like, for decisions, it was the easiest thing ever." He looked around. He had no idea where he was or what anything else meant but it didn't matter.

He leaned back in his chair , stretching out to keep his hand on hers as he rubbed his thumb over her hand. He grabbed his drink with the free hand and took a sip. For some reason even the drinks tasted better here. That's when he heard another buzz in his pocket and the muffled few notes of "Theme for a Jackal" that was the buzz for texts.

Johnny pulled out his phone as it continued to awkwardly repeat the tone. He looked at Taylor and frowned. "One sec, babe." He said and flashed her a half smile. Johnny then whipped around and stabbed the phone with his thumb and caught a glimpse of the spam textas that Ro had sent. He walked a few paces and started up a call. When he heard the click, he didn't wait for a hello or a voicemail, he just started talking.

"Dude, I'm doing shit and junk. If you need someone to kick your ass so badly, I'll do it later. I ain't even in Kyoto, man and I'm with Taylor." Johnny wasn't even going to wait for a response. He could click it closed and shut Ro down and that'd be the end of it.

Taylor gave Johnny's fingers a squeeze and wrapped her hand around her tea cup to feel the warmth from it in her palm. "Imagine..." She said, with a slow, devious grin. "All the trouble we could get in here."

She looked down at the bulge in his pocket where his phone was, and then back up at him. He excused himself and she just smiled, leaning back in her chair to check him out as he walked away. She tugged absently at her perky pony tail and fussed over her bangs a little while checking out the very Japanese decor. The place was simple, straightforward, with none of the Tokyo neon or the Kyoto sanctimony. She liked it. Maybe if they bought a house close by, this would be a regular spot for them.

A very brief, one-sided conversation later, Johnny came back to find Taylor in mid yawn. She stretched her arms up over her head while the yawn took over, and as it wound down she curled her fingers on one hand into a circle and brought it down to her mouth, stuck her tongue into her cheek, and gave Johnny a suggestive look that by now had to by the most familiar thing in the world. She wondered if it had lost some of the excitement for him. She couldn't blame him, that's just the way things went.

"Ya know, Tiger, if we get our own place, we can stick a big ass garage on it for an indoor gym. Like, with a full-sized ring. Our very. Own. Ring." She grinned. "Just imagine!"

Her blue eyes lingered on his for a moment, and then she took another sip of tea. "So was that Ro? Are you guys gonna hang out or something? I don't mind if you talk to her or whatever. I can entertain myself." She pulled her phone out of her pocket. "Ya know what's really unfair? I can't even make you jealous. I can't say 'oh yeah? Well, I'm gonna text this other hot guy I know'." She looked him in the eye. "Because there aren't any," she said flatly.

Johnny grinned when he shoved the phone back in his pocket. "Man... that's like bein back at home. I think I could totally dig it. We kinda do have some cash stashed up. We might as well spend a little bit of it." He said. "I know that juicer was pretty expensive but not that bad. It's not exactly splugin. Besides, this wis like, forever and junk, right?" He said, shrugging a bit. He didn't like thinking about the future too much but it was in the back of his head. Conceivably, they wouldn't be buying another house ever again. They might as well spend the money to make the one they got as good as they wanted it. It was the same thought his mother had. He lowered his head for a moment. Things were definitely not going to turn out THAT way. Johnny loved Taylor more than anything and he knew she felt the same.

"Yeah, man, it was Ro." Johnny said and shrugged, turning his head. "She wanted me to kick the shit out of her or something, I dunno, dude." He said, passing it off.

Johnny frowned when Taylor looked him int he eyes. "Hey, man" he said. "It ain't even like that and junk! It's not like I'm tryin ta hide shit from ya or like..." Johnny sighed. "This shit's important and I wanna spend it with you and junk. Like... She's cool and all but she's just a drinkin buddy, man." Johnny said. "I mostly just beat her up and junk. Like..." Johnny really didn't know what to say.

"That's it, like... I barely even realize she's a girl half the time cause she's kind of like a dude and junk. You know... fightin and punchin and shit like that." Johnny scratched the back of his neck and looked at the table. He frowned. "I don't want ya to be jealous and junk babe. You're the only one I think about, I swear." His cheeks flushed. He meant it.

"Hey, now..." Taylor raised her hands up and bowed her head to deflect Johnny's burst of insecurity. "A'right, c'mon, I'm not saying any of that. It's okay, I know no crazy Tension bitch could ever measure up to me." She gave him a sly smile. "But... just a tip, if you ever forget if she's a guy or a girl, just look down, just a little bit..." She put her hands up on either side of her chest. "At her giant fucking boobs. Holy shit, that can't even be attractive."

She glanced around. The cafe was empty aside from them, and the owner was mostly in the back. She pushed her tea across the table and stood up to walk around to Johnny. She neatly sat down on his lap and propped one leg up on the table, and turned to cradle his head in her arms and curl her fingers into his silver hair. "Ya know, Tiger," she said, "Maybe the three of us could hang out sometime. I can't really be your drinking buddy, but she can't really be your fuck buddy. Maybe it'd be fun if we all hung out, just the three of us?"

Johnny turned his head and tried not to crack a smile at Taylor. "It's kinda unfair she has em, man." He said. "Cause when I punch her there they just get in the stupid way." Johnny then grinned.

He then watched as Taylor swung around and sat on his lap. He just looked up at her with puppy dog eyes waiting for her to speak as he felt her weight upon him, his eyes glancing at her leg every so often. "Actually, it's pretty cool babe." He said. "Cause if you DO get jealous and just want to beat the crap out of her... she'd totally into it." Johnny said chuckling as he brought his hands up and clasped them around her arms, looking into her eyes.

Johnny slid a hand up Taylor's arm. Then he tickled the back of her neck and pushed forward until their lips met. It wasn't much longer before the sweet kiss turned into a little bit more PDA than was probably appropriate but Johnny really didn't care. After a long kiss and a short make out session, Johnny pulled away enough to lean his forehead against hers and smiled.

"You know, babe." He said. "We did kinda see a bunch of stuff already. Did we have anything else we NEEDED to do? Other than ruin the hotel room and junk." Johnny said, grinning as he glanced away. "We could see what kinda junk they have for night life. Probably should get to know what it's about and stuff." he said.

"She would be into it," Taylor said with a shrug. "But she only fights guys."

Taylor dove right into the kiss, PDA or not. If anyone had a problem with the show, she'd be happy to take it up with them. In a minute.

"Mm..." A little moan escaped her before they broke off. "Yeah," she opened her eyes again and gave Johnny a cute smile. "We could hit the hotel and get changed and stuff and see what kinda trouble we can get into." She booped his nose with the tip of her finger and stood up.

"Get Ro on a train, too. By the time she gets here it'll be nice and late and we can all go check out the Ha-ma-ma-matsu scene. Maybe while we're waiting, we can fit in a little nap," she gave him a wink and headed for the door.

Johnny grinned at Taylor's words. When she stood up and walked off, Johnny took a few moments to coolly sip his drink while the rest of him stood down. After he was good to go, he paid the bill and pulled out his phone again, failing Ro. Once again, he didn't wait for a hello when he heard the click.